DISCLAIMER: This blog is about fun things to do in the Cape Winelands. Other than drink wine. But please note, we highly recommend drinking the wine, while also branching out and experiencing the other side of the Winelands. Just don’t indulge while horse riding, for example.
1. Explore the Countryside – By Car, On Foot, With Camera
There’s plenty to see in the Cape Winelands besides the inside of tasting rooms. For example, where the wines are made… The rows of vines that change colour with the seasons stretch on forever and evoke that slow country drive with the windows down, Doobie Brothers playing on the radio, feeling.
Some of our favourite wine estates to stop in at include: Muratie, Delaire Graff, Diemersfontein, Uva Mira, Waterford, Vergelegen and Romond, to name a few – contact us for more info. Sleep over or take a day trip.
Take the camera along – to catch the bucolic glory before it slips away like an expensive Bordeaux vintage down the throat. (Of course we prefer to let that odd glass of red or white slip down while photographing…)
2. Eat Fancy Meals
The Cape Winelands do gourmet cuisine like no other place we know. With the mix of fresh ingredients, cultural influences and a flair for the luxurious, the Winelands hosts some of the country’s best restaurants. Take a date, impress the in-laws, enjoy mountain views…
WHERE TO EAT: Find out about our favourites here. You can also buy snacks for picnics or to take home at farm shops at guesthouses like Babylonstoren and Spier, or in the small towns.
3. Ride the Franschhoek Wine Tram
Ok, this defies the no drinking rule but, hey, you don’t have to drink. Just enjoy the ride and views. Presenting the Franschhoek Wine Tram! It’s brand new and starts rolling in October. It’s the first Hop on/ Hop off winetasting tram service in the Winelands. First stop is the ticket office behind the famous Station Pub, and will stop along the way at wine farms such as Franschhoek Cellar, Grande Provence and Rickety Bridge.
4. Kiss
You can’t go to the Winelands and not feel your heart strings pull a little, what with all the beauty and charm surrounding you. A glass of bubbly isn’t even essential for this part. Take your partner to Delaire Graff or Uva Mira, or go on the Waterford Wine Safari, for example, and wine and dine overlooking the mountains and vines, or the lawns of Boschendal with a picnic under the giant oak trees – you’ll get the warm and cuddlies for certain.
5. Get High or Go Fly
Go hot air ballooning with certified companies, such as Extreme Scene. The flights take place in the scenic Berg River Valley outside of Paarl, towards Malmesbury. Try your hand at fly fishing. There are several farms in the Winelands with great dams to fish in, such as Jonkershoek Flyfishery in Stellenbosch (its dams are the oldest trout hatchery in South Africa, started in 1892) and La Ferme Fly Fishing (between Paarl and Franschhoek on the R301). La Ferme has four dams; the trout dams are for fly fishing while the others are stocked with Bass and Carp.
7. Go To The Market
There are numerous great country markets, held mostly on weekends, in the Cape Winelands region. Taste great treats and listen to live music with the vineyards as your backdrop.
- Stellenbosch Slow Food Market – Every Saturday | 9am to 2pm | Oude Libertas Estate, Oude Libertas Road
- Woodmill Friday Night Music Market – Every Friday night | 5:30pm to 10pm | Vredenburg Road, Stellenbosch
- Blaauwklippen Vineyards Family Market – Every Sunday | 10:00 am to 3:00 pm | R44 between Somerset West and Stellenbosch
8. Giddy up!
Go horse riding in the natural settings of the Cape Winelands. You can contact Cape Winelands Riding, only 30 minutes from Cape Town CBD in the heart of the winelands. Email info@tsptravel.com.
9. Glimpse the Past
The Winelands are steeped in history, from the colonial past. In the Franschhoek Valley, visit the French Huguenot Memorial Monument, dedicated to the cultural influences the Huguenots brought to the Cape Colony after their immigration during the 17th and 18th centuries. In Paarl,visit the Afrikaans Taal Monument and stop at the Drakenstein Prison, a low-security prison between Paarl and Franschhoek, where Nelson Mandela spent the last three of the 27 years he was in prison.
For more info on a Winelands tour that includes these cultural stops, click here.
10. Get Arty Farty
For bookworms, the small towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek to name but two, have great and quaint second hand book stores to dig around in for classics and new titles. Art galleries abound! Just walk down the main street of Franschhoek and Paarl and the grid roads of Stellenbosch and you’ll find hours flitting away scouting the great art works the Winelands has to offer. (Boost the experience: Take rest breaks. With wine.)
PLUS 11. Ok, ok, just drink already
The Cape Winelands is host to the country’s best wine estates, with award winning wines on offer. You can indulge in the tasting rooms or at the estates’ restaurants or purchase a few bottles for later… A great plus is that international wine couriers are at hand to deliver your wine purchases to anywhere in the world.
What You Said
We asked you what your favourite things to do in the Winelands were and here are your answers:
- Sobrage performance by Archim van Arnim at Haute Cabrierre in Franschhoek – Kim Drake
- Visitng Fynbos Guest Farm just outside Tulbagh! A magical place to stay! – Chantelle Stork
- Lynx Vinyard and listening to Dieter’s story – Joburg engineer to top viniculturist – its Franceshoeks only independent producer I believe – Richard Harris
- Those in the know head to McGregor this weekend for the friendliest little Food and wine festival. Bargain Wines, music, fun for kids, celebrating 150 years of McGregor with a special blend of wine from our Valley. Sat 1st Sept from 10am. – McGregor Tourism
- Bilton Wines – chocolate and wine pairing – Tanya Petzold
- Slow food markets are the in thing in the Boland at the moment. There is one every weekend at Laborie in Paarl and Blaawklippen in Stellenbosch. In Wellington there is an incredible restaurant and antique store called Perfect Place, great country feel. Another incredible new spot opened recently on the Schalk Burger Estate, Welbedacht No.6. Stunning food from the previous chef at Oude Wellington, now the new home of Boer & Brit Wines. – Sandra Blackie
Tour the Winelands yourself with Rhino Africa
Smoke a pipe?
@rhinoafrica wine. Nuff said.